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There Are Fewer Babies

According to the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) (2019), about 3,788,235 babies were born in 2018,
2% down from the number in 2017 (3,855,500). It is the fourth year in a row
that the number of births has declined, and it is the lowest number of births
in the past 32 years. This indicates an ongoing fertility slump that is
changing America’s future workforce.Birthrates fell
for nearly all racial and age groups of women under 40 years, with only slight
gains for women in their early 40s (CDC, 2019).The general fertility rate was 60.2 births per 1,000 women,
aged 15-44. The reason behind the decline may be due to teenagers and unmarried
women having fewer babies. There are also lower fertility rates among Hispanic
women. Aside from an uptick in women getting bachelor’s degrees, there is also
expanded the use of long-acting contraceptives, such as the intrauterine device
(IUD).What this means is
that the total fertility rate, which is the estimated number of children born
to each woman over her lifetime, fell to 1.7. If it continues to decline
without an increase in immigration, it might lead to a workforce that is too
small to support the country’s retirees. These numbers have surprised
demographers, who anticipated the birthrates to show signs of stabilizing or
even rising, as the U.S. economy and job market has improved over the last
decade. However, the drop could affect forecasts about how the country will
look with an older population and fewer young workers to sustain the workforce.
Some critics argue that the current political turmoil and a gloomy outlook for
America’s future are the causes of what is behind the negative sentiment among
people of childbearing age.There are also a
string of obstacles to raising kids in the U.S., such as the frustration of
finding childcare, high insurance costs, a lack of parental leave, and many
other support systems. American workers’ paychecks have also not been growing
at the same pace as the national economy. Although the unemployment rate has
improved significantly from the Great Recession, companies are still using
layoffs to maintain profits at the expense of their employees. Furthermore, the
trend in decreasing birthrates may be attributable to cultural shifts, where
more Americans delay marriage and child-rearing.On the bright side, the data
don’t suggest that Americans are getting less fertile. The declining birthrates
seem to be driven mostly by sociological reasons, either by choice or out of
financial necessity. It is crucial to keep in mind
that population replacement is an essential indication of a country’s public
and economic health. If the number of older adults is increasing, and causing a
dip in the labor market is far more significant than the number of babies born,
a country’s economy and social services will soon become unsustainable. In the
worst case scenarios, the U.S. birth rates may come close to the fertility
issues in Japan and many in Europe.The country needs to bring the U.S. immigration system to the 21st century to tackle its fertility issues. The three ways to bring about this change is to end chain migration, adopt an employment-based immigration system, and getting rid of the diversity visa program and the 7% per country cap (Inserra, 2018). The American public would benefit more if the Congress focused on the immigration reforms, rather than concentrating on amnesty.